Back in February, a keen angler Taigan Heath and a few mates headed to South West Rocks to target some warm water pelagics. Fishing offshore of Grassy Head, Taigan and his crew managed some consistent catches of Spotted Mackerel. After noticing some larger marks deeper in the water column on the sounder, they decided to change their fishing tactics and send live bait to the bottom. Shortly after, Taigan hooked and landed a solid 15kg Cobia, which happened to be tagged. The details of the tag were recorded and despite being fond of Cobia feeding, the decision was made to re-release the fish with the original tag still in place.
Taigan reported the recapture via the online recapture form on the DPIRD website. A quick search of the database revealed that the Cobia had been tagged by Hervey Bay Game Fishing Club member, Glen Radunz. The fish was originally tagged offshore of Rooneys Point, K’gari (Fraser Island) in November 2023 and measured in at 120cm and an estimated 12kg. Despite only being at liberty for 84 days (nearly 3 months), the Cobia had moved a minimum distance of 358 nautical miles (~663 km) south before it was recaptured, making this the new record for the furthest distance travelled by a tagged Cobia since the Game Fish Tagging Program’s inception. A total of 1,486 Cobia have been tagged under the Program, with 43 recaptures reported.
The previous longest recorded distance moved by a Cobia within the Program was 300 nautical miles. That particular fish moved in the complete opposite direction (north) having been tagged at South West Rocks (Northern NSW) in July 2022, then recaptured off Double Island Point (QLD) in November 2022.
If you are lucky enough to catch a tagged fish, be sure to report it online by using the online recapture form here.
The Game Fish Tagging Program is a great example of your fishing fees at work!
